Friday 8 August 2003

Commission Supports New Stolen Wages Campaign

The Catholic Justice and Peace Commission of Brisbane today gave its support to a new "stolen wages" public awareness campaign being launched in Brisbane.

A coalition of Indigenous organisations is launching the campaign with the support of a range of community organisations including the union movement.

The Commission's Executive Officer, Peter Arndt, said the Commission had participated in the original campaign in 2002 to get a fair deal for many Indigenous workers who had lost wages which were placed in trust for them by the Queensland Government.

"This practice occurred for much of the last hundred years and it is a great injustice," Mr Arndt said.

"Indigenous workers worked a lifetime in jobs as stockmen and cooks and had a lot of their pay put away in trust for them and it simply disappeared," he said.

"The Queensland Government offered them up to $4000 in compensation, but this is a fraction of what they lost," he said.

"The fact that three-quarters of eligible people have not accepted the offer shows it is not acceptable to the majority of Indigenous people," he said.

"The Commission is joining the new campaign because we believe that Indigenous people are entitled to genuine wage justice," he said.

"It is disappointing to see the Premier trying to put pressure on Aboriginal people by saying that accepting this paltry offer would be an act of reconciliation," he said.

"It sseems that many non-indigenous people think that Indigenous people have to do all the forgiving and make all the sacrifices in the name of reconciliation," he said.

"We can't have true reconciliation if the interests of government and non-indigenous people count more than those of Indigenous people," he said.

Mr Arndt said that the Commission would be sending information to parishes and urging Catholics to get involved in the campaign.

For further information, contact Peter Arndt on (07) 3891 5911 or 0409 265 476. 5911 or 0409 265 476